Recently I was sitting an a cafe, notepad out and expecting my pen to start moving. With the blank page still staring at me, I realized I was waiting for inspiration to strike. Steven King’s quotation popped into my head: Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.
Fortunately, my brain twisted the idea of striking inspiration (as only my brain can), and suddenly in my head I was on an Indiana Jones-esque adventure where ideas were snakes, hidden, coiled, and ready to strike. As I progressed through the tangled jungle of my memories, I was waiting for the attack.
Then again, Indiana Jones would not have gone out seeking snakes! Strangely enough, I have never seen a snake in the wild, despite living in rattlesnake country most of my life.
I think the fedora and khakis were drawn into my subconscious because I recent read that it was the 25th anniversary of the release of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
After the horrible second film, I was so glad to have the humor and great story line of the original continued in the franchise. At first, I couldn’t believe that it had been 25 years until I realized that River Phoenix had played the young Indie.
It was River’s brother, Leaf (now known as Joaquin), who made the 911 phone call about River’s collapse in 1993. I remember all of this so well. Like many 80s children, I grew up watching River’s films, starting with Stand By Me. His name on the poster was enough to get me to go into the theater.
Two things really stuck in my head about his death. First, when people would confront him about his drug use, his answer was consistently “I’m a vegan,” believing somehow that that would protect him. What stands out most though was the tox report after his death. There was an impressively long list of drugs, followed by Sudafed. That little red pill – which keeps me functioning during allergy season – seemed odd on that list.
In tribute to River and the rest of the cast of The Last Crusade, I have placed the film in my library queue and will be watching it soon. It will be interesting to see if it’s aged well. Not only will I get some great entertainment, there is the added benefit of it breaking my writer’s block!
Am I the only one that has been disappointed by even number Indiana Jones films? or What celebrity deaths have really struck you?
Grown Up, Now What? 
That’s funny. I actually just recently watched some of those movies. The first and third hold up well, but I don’t like Temple of Doom. It just doesn’t seem to have aged well. I can see why some people would like it, but it’s just not for me. I’m actually someone who defends the Crystal Skull. I thought it was a decent movie – not great, but definitely not as bad as people say. A lot of people say it’s too goofy, but the original trilogy had a ton of goofy moments. Plus, I thought it was great that they took some risks on the story they went with. It shows that they could expand on the universe they created. Anyway that’s my impression.
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I think my problem with Crystal Skull was that it seemed to be filling time between recycling memories from the first films. The main part of my problem with it was I wanted it to be 1980s Indiana, and it couldn’t be that. There I go with being burned by expectations!
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Steve’s right – the whole thing was pretty goofy. Nothing like a good old fashioned fun movie, though, right?
Here’s the part I’m stuck on, though…HOW many years ago? Hello, middle age!
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I’m actually enjoying middle age. My arms are still long enough for me to read without bifocals, I don’t have too much “tinsel” in my hair, and I get to appreciate how much more confident I am now than I was when I first saw the third Indie film!
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